The National Capital Commission and the RendezVous LeBreton Group are expected to announce an agreement in principle to redevelop LeBreton Flats Thursday.

Two well-placed sources told this newspaper Tuesday that the NCC and RendezVous LeBreton have reached a land transfer agreement and they could be ready to make the next step in what will lead to the building of a downtown arena to house the Ottawa Senators.

While the deal won’t be completely finalized during Thursday’s meeting of the NCC board of directors, this is a major step forward in these talks. A step forward at LeBreton opens up the possibilities for a brighter future.

This “positive” announcement of an agreement between the the developers and NCC is welcome news to Senators fans suffering through one of the worst hockey seasons in franchise history.

RendezVous LeBreton became the preferred bid in in the spring of 2016 and the group has been engaged in talks with the NCC since then. An agreement in principle to transfer the land to RendezVous would be a significant move toward developing this prime land with a community featuring 4,000 housing units, a major public square as well as the showcase arena.

It’s believed the RendesVouz group — a partnership between Senators’ owner Eugene Melnyk and John Ruddy of Trinity Developments — would then have six to 12 months to get the financing in place for the massive $3-billion development that could change the face of the city.

Mark Kristmanson, the NCC’s chief operating officer, indicated late last year this would be a “milestone” meeting for the board of directors, who are being briefed in camera on the details of the agreement Wednesday.

Moving this project to the next step is significant because the negotiations between the two sides have been ongoing since RendezVous LeBreton was given preferred bidder status by the NCC in April, 2016.

With talks still at a delicate stage, it’s uncertain whether Melnyk will attend the NCC meeting. And his presence wouldn’t be required, anyhow, as the deal won’t be fully complete by Thursday. At this point, Melnyk might want to take a step back from the spotlight until everything is in place 100 per cent.

There are 35 minutes set aside on the NCC’s agenda for the LeBreton portion of the discussions, which will include a staff update on the talks.

There is a sense in the community that this is a watershed moment for the ownership of the franchise and especially those who have refused to listen to Melnyk when he says he’ll never sell the team and it’s not for sale.

Though Melnyk stated last month on Parliament Hill he wasn’t sure a downtown arena was as important as everybody was making it out to be, it should be noted he was still in the middle of negotiations for a new rink at LeBreton and it makes no sense to show all your cards while trying to get a deal done.

If there’s going to be an events centre (also known as a rink) it needs a main tenant and Melnyk owns that part of the deal so his presence in these negotiations are key.

The Senators have looked at other sites in the area that could house a new arena, but LeBreton makes the most sense because it’s five minutes west of Parliament Hill, will be on the new LRT line and the NCC has been looking for something that’s going to attract people to the area.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly have both stated they feel it’s paramount the Senators have a downtown arena. The Senators curtained off 1,500 seats coming into the season hoping to create more of a demand at the rink and the club is average 15,460 people per-game.

You have to give these two sides credit because these discussions have been air tight as far as information goes. If Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson didn’t sit on the board in a non-voting role, then you wonder how much he would know.

One source pointed out that the agreement will examine land costs and development details, but will not include the City of Ottawa, at least not yet. After Thursday’s expected announcement, the next steps will be laid out, including reaching some form of agreement with the city.

That is expected to take some time, and because this is an election year, may not happen until after the new municipal council is formed.

Watson was scheduled to receive an NCC briefing on Monday, and presumably the LeBreton project factored large during that briefing.

One also gets the feeling that once Thursday ends, there will still be some heavy lifting to be done but this is a major step in the right direction.

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Garrioch: NCC and RendezVous LeBreton have reached agreement in principle for Flats development